The Higher Education Commission (HEC) under Higher Education Development in Pakistan (HEDP) project conducted a three-day extensive capacity-building session for public sector universities on financial autonomy. Around 18 Registrars, Treasurers, and allied staff of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from Punjab, Sindh, AJ&K and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attended the training held at the Kohsar University (KU), Murree.
The thematic areas of the training included the features of the framework for financial autonomy, better financial management, improvement in the governance of public sector universities, and implementation of the framework.HEDP has already conducted six such capacity-building sessions across the country in which more than 150 participants have been trained.
In his opening remarks, Vice Chancellor Abbottabad University of Science & Technology Dr. Malik Mujaddad Ur Rehman, the chief guest of the event, emphasized the need for improvement in the financial resource generation of public sector universities in the wake of dwindling federal government grants and mounting expenditures due to inflation. Emphasizing the autonomy of universities, he added that HEIs that can make their own decisions can better empathize with their employees and students addressing their regional needs.
In the collective brainstorming, program members explored the practical applicability of the idea being the primary concern for HEIs and related questions were raised in this regard. The pre-and post-assessment showed a marked improvement in the understanding and skills of the participants on financial autonomy.
The activity is led by the Financial Management Specialist, HEDP, Mr. Khawaja Zahid in collaboration with the financial experts who were engaged to conduct different sessions during the training. Deputy Provost, Kohsar University, Murree Mr. Shehroz Khan appreciated HEDP’s efforts to conduct this training all across Pakistan including hosting this valuable training session at their campus. The allocation of public funds for the higher education sector in Pakistan remains low compared to international standards. The situation is vulnerable owing to competing demands from other sectors on Pakistan’s national budget. Realising this, HEC is encouraging public sector HEIs to enhance revenues from non-traditional sources beyond government grants and student fees.
